


Hurricane of Love

by GamblingDementor



Category: In the Heights - Miranda
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Gen, Mom Friend Usnavi, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-30
Updated: 2016-08-30
Packaged: 2018-08-12 01:48:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7915738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GamblingDementor/pseuds/GamblingDementor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Usnavi decides that it's his personal mission to nurse every single person en el barrio back to health whenever they've caught a cold.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hurricane of Love

**Author's Note:**

> This is set 7 years after the musical. There are romantic ships tagged but it is mostly about Usnavi's platonic relationships.

Most of the time, Nina thinks nothing of having given Usnavi the key to her and Benny's home. It's only natural. The man is basically her brother, quite certainly Benny's too, after all these years.

 

Some days, she deeply regrets that choice.

 

"Where is he?!" Usnavi barges in like a rush of panic.

 

He scans the room, not even paying her any mind even though Nina is literally sitting in the armchair right in front of the door.

 

"Bedroom," she rolls her eyes and watches as he dashes off across the room, clutching his grocery bag.

 

She doesn't even need to check what's inside it. Her experience of being Usnavi's friend for the whole twenty-six years of her life has taught her exactly what Usnavi brought. There's some soup, the exact recipe Abuela used to do, at least two blankets, a lot of VapoRub and a hot water bottle. He's brought these exact same things so many times whenever any of his friends were sick. Every single time.

 

"Yo, I told you, I'm _fine_ ," she hears Benny insist, followed by Usnavi's fast-spoken fussing.

 

From the living room, Nina is most certainly _not_ getting involved in any of this. Let Benny handle the Usnavi hurricane on his own. Besides, she has her own affairs to tend to, namely the baby at her breast that Usnavi probably didn't even notice.

 

" _¿Qué piensas, Claudita? ¿Está muy enfermo tu papá?_ "

 

Claudia coos, her small fist reaching up, trying to grab Nina's hair. She's a very active little plum, always trying to touch, lick, feel the world around her. It's fitting, really, that their own Claudia would appreciate all the things of this world so much. If not in her blood, it's in her soul, probably.

 

A while without any sound from their bedroom gets Nina worried Usnavi nurtured her husband to suffocation and ensuing death. She gets up, balancing the baby (she's becoming so big every day, but she always knew being a mother means being strong) and goes to check on her two guys.

 

Under a pile of every blanket they own and then some, Benny looks almost tiny, her giant of a man. Usnavi covered his forehead with the hot water bottle and is gently stroking his cheek. On the bed stand, an empty bowl of soup. Benny's eyes are closed, but Nina knows what he looks like when he's sleeping. He always sleeps facing down, drooling a little bit on the pillow if she has to be honest. He is definitely pretending to sleep right now. That doesn't stop Usnavi from frantically rubbing Vicks on his chest.

 

"So…" Nina starts, but there isn't really anything to say.

 

Usnavi notices her by the doorway and frowns, looking down at Claudia nursing in her arms.

 

" _Carajo_ , Nina, put a blanket on!"

 

She pauses, already feeling the indignation.

 

"Are you serious right now? We've literally been with each other's best friend for seven years, I think you can handle seeing me feeding my kid."

 

He grabs Nina by the waist and tries to pull her out of the room, whispering loudly.

 

"I don't care about that, the baby's gonna get cold! _Y se enferma_."

 

_Oh_. _Of course._ Nina lets Usnavi swaddle Claudia up in some baby blanket from her room − he won't let her use anything that comes from Benny's room. She glances inside one last time before taking Usnavi to the kitchen to calm the frick down (whether he wants it or not) and Benny winks at her, then closes his eyes again before Usnavi notices. Lucky one.

 

"How long did you say he's been sick?" Usnavi asks, pretending to quietly sip his café but really checking the hall in case Benny is getting up.

 

Nina shoves the baby in his arms in hopes to distract him.

 

"He's barely sick," she replies, "Just a bit of a sore throat, he's tired, but he's _fine_."

 

Claudia owns Usnavi's soul with her big eyes that stare up at him like he's the most amazing _tío_ in the world − which he is. Usnavi smiles down at her, taps her chin, making her giggle. His cup of coffee sits on the table forgotten, not to mention Benny.

 

"She's perfect…" He whispers, stroking her short curly hair. 

 

"She is," Nina smiles.

 

What are children for, if not for distracting your adorably sweet, if really overbearing childhood friend away from your tired husband? In no time, Usnavi is all over the baby, asking if she's eating well, if she sleeps through the nights, what kind of toys she likes best, and if they want to have more. It's so easy to get his mind off Benny it's ridiculous.

 

Benny gets better over the next days, with or without Usnavi's help, He's a tough one, up and running in no time, even though he was a bit more sick than Nina initially thought − or so Usnavi said. Nina just had to fence off Usnavi about twelve times in a couple days, which is little as far as she's concerned, before they finally convinced him that Benny is completely back to health. He did threaten to take Claudia to his place for a few days to protect her, which both Benny and Nina categorically refused.

 

It seems to Nina that the battle is over until she visits her parents for the day and finds their home overthrown with the Usnavi tornado as well.

 

"Oh, hi Nina!"

 

He's standing in the kitchen, stirring a few pots as if he belonged there, a big smile on his face. His forehead is all sweaty yet he still has his hat on. He doesn't even take it off in summer, she can't expect him to let go of it in the middle of winter.

 

"Usnavi! I think he's hungry again!" Her mom calls out from the bedroom.

 

"I am not!" Her dad responds exasperatedly.

 

" _No sabe que dice_ ," Camila says, entering the room.

 

She's looking pretty tired, her nose all red from blowing it all the time, but her face lights up when she sees Nina. She's about to pull her into a hug when Usnavi puts himself between them.

 

"Cami, she could get sick."

 

"Oh, _claro_ , you're right…"

 

Some alarm rings and Usnavi pulls a pan off the stove, stirs vigorously what's cooking in another one, tastes the content of the third one. He pulls together a plate that looks like it came straight from heaven.

 

" _Mija,_ take this to your father," her mom asks.

 

"Don't get too close to him!" Usnavi shouts in a panic. "He's sick."

 

Evidently, her father is lying under a pile of blankets, smells like he's been massaged with VapoRub a dozen times over and looks overall exhausted − by his cold or Usnavi, she can't say. She puts the plate on the bed stand and goes to sit a bit further away. Somehow she's convinced Usnavi would know.

 

"Nina?"

 

"How are you, Dad?"

 

"Tired," he says, though not tired enough that he's not sitting up to devour what Usnavi made him.

 

"You should get some rest, it's just a cold, it'll be over soon."

 

He frowns, shakes his head.

 

" _Carajo_ , not the cold, your mom and this boy."

 

She snorts and tries her best to distract him for as long as she can, and save herself from these two as well, but after a while her dad starts being drowsy and she lets him take a nap.

 

Back in the kitchen her mom and Usnavi are chatting over lunch. They stop as soon as she enters the room − easy to guess what they were talking about.

 

" _Muñeca_ , you look a bit thin," her mom says, " _Come algo_."

 

Usnavi nods frantically in agreement. Nina does _not_ look a bit thin, she looks perfectly normal, but she knows for a fact that Usnavi is an amazing cook (Vanessa won't shut up about it, bless her soul) so she joins them by the table.

 

"So, how is Claudia?" Her mom asks.

 

Nina gets to eating. Unsurprisingly, it's delicious. She pulls out her phone, opens the gallery and hands it to her mother.

 

"Big and strong," she says proudly.

 

Camila sets the phone between her and Usnavi so they can both gaze at the pictures lovingly − nevermind that they both see the actual Claudia pretty much every day and that they've seen these pictures already. They still coo and lose all sense of dignity. Nina can't blame them. She falls head over heels for her daughter every day.

 

Then her mom makes the mistake of coughing.

 

"Camila, you need to go to bed!" Usnavi yelps, yanking the phone from her.

 

Nina's mom raises her eyebrows and there's a battle of conflicting wills for a minute, before she admits defeat because Usnavi is right, she is sick. He sees her to bed as well and Nina escapes before her turn comes.

 

She lives with the hope to live a life free of his suffocating love for a few days by trying to avoid places of high danger such as: _anybody_ 's home at all, the street by the bodega, Benny's office, anywhere anyone Usnavi knows might be at any time, because Usnavi _will_ appear out of thin air to forcefully dispense hot drinks and blankets.

 

Alas, the inevitable falls upon her. She's playing with Claudia when all of the sudden, she sneezes − which makes the baby giggle, so at least it's a plus on that front. Benny, who was pretending to read the newspaper but was really looking at them, scrambles to his feet to snatch the baby from Nina's arms.

 

"You're sick!" He accuses. "I didn't wanna believe Usnavi, but he was right all along!"

 

She sighs, which prompts a fit of coughing. Benny turns Claudia's head away from her in fear she'll catch the disease by _seeing_ her sick, even from the other side of the room. Truth be told, he's not completely paranoid. She had been hoping that what she was feeling the past few days was just tiredness from the baby teething and keeping them up half of the night, but it seems that the cold running around the barrio has finally caught up to her. Better not stay around the baby too much at this state.

 

Benny puts Claudia down on her play mat before feeling for Nina's temperature, a large hand flat on her forehead.

 

"Am I hot?" She asks.

 

He gives her a cocky smirk, a hand on her waist, thumb rubbing gentle circles.

 

"Super hot, sweetheart. Also, you don't have any fever."

 

She snorts, but leans up for a kiss anyways. No luck for her today. Benny takes a step back like she's tried to bite him.

 

"You're going to bed right now."

 

"Are you serious? I'm not even that tired."

 

But his grasp on her waist is steel as he guides her to the bedroom, no arguing allowed.

 

"You get some rest, and you'll see if you're better afterward."

 

"This isn't even how you treat a cold!"

 

"Do you want me to call…" He asks threateningly, both of them knowing what name is implied.

 

"NO!"

 

She slides under the covers without a fight after that. Destiny has it that she falls asleep within minutes. She really is unwell, as much as she hates it.

 

She wakes up to the strong scent of Vicks right under her nose. Quite possibly _literally_ under her nose, where she's feeling sticky, although in her state, any option is left up in the air, it could just be her nose being runny. She doesn't dare open her eyes at first but she hears the hushed voice that she was fearing, singing some nursing rhymes in Spanish, and opens her eyes wide with a resolved sigh.

 

"Don't worry," Usnavi says soothingly, "You're in good hands."

 

"What are you…" She croaks, realizes her throat is on fire.

 

At this point, she's not even all that surprised he's here. Not the first time this has happened. He all but pours a cup of honeyed tea down her throat. She coughs up a little, but manages to get it down. She rubs her forehead − it's all sweaty. It's so _hot_ in here.

 

"Too many blankets…" She sighs and tries to push off at least a couple of them, but he stops her hands.

 

"No," he says firmly. "You're sick, you need to be warm."

 

She checks the time. She's slept all afternoon.

 

"Where's Bunny?"

 

"With Claudita at the bodega. _No te preocupes._ "

 

She doesn't like to admit it because she was given no choice in the matter whatsoever, but there's something warm and comfortable about Usnavi's overbearing nursing her back to health. The soup he forces her to take is delicious, as it always is, and even though she's a goddamn adult, she doesn't really hate being treated like a sick little kid all night when she's feeling so feeble. Besides, Usnavi has always been good conversation. Even though her throat hurts, her nose has stopped working at some point during her nap and her head is pounding, the rest of the day flies and soon Benny comes home, a sleeping Claudia in her car seat (who she sadly doesn't get to kiss goodnight before he puts her to bed). It takes a lot of insisting and bargaining for Usnavi to agree to leave Benny in charge of his own wife's well-being.

 

"I'm sorry," Benny says as soon as Usnavi has left.

 

"It's fine," she replies, though she would have preferred to be coddled that way by Benny if she'd had the choice. "But you owe me one."

 

"I do," he agrees.

 

"How'd it even happen?"

 

Benny sits down on the bed where she's still restricted, holds her hand, playing with her fingers.

 

"We were out of cough syrup, I knew Usnavi had some at the bodega, I didn't think before getting some and of course he realized you were sick."

 

"Mmh," She interlaces their fingers. She knows now a kiss would be ill-advised if they want at least half of the adults in this house to stay healthy at any given time.

 

"Then he invited himself and forced me to keep the bodega."

 

"Well, you did your best," she smiles.

 

It takes three days of Usnavi coming back all day long for Nina to put her foot down and declare herself entirely back to health. And another few before she dares step inside the bodega for a cup of coffee before heading to the office. She regrets that choice immediately.

 

"Okay, so I'm going to let you guys be weird on your own…"

 

Usnavi turns and gives her a smile before returning to his task at hand, namely checking the back of Carla's throat, a coffee stirrer lowering her tongue.

 

"Coffee's ready behind the counter, serve yourself," he tells Nina, then pats Carla's head. "They are a little bit swollen, you were right."

 

He hands her a pack of medicine Nina isn't even sure he's allowed to sell in this shop − does he get prescriptions to buy in bulk and resell? What is happening? Nina gets herself a cup of coffee and watches him feel her forehead for fever, touch her throat, apply some Vicks on it (Does he just keep a pot on him at any given time? He probably does), giving her advice and an extra cup of coffee for free − Carla takes both graciously. Nina smiles politely when Carla waves at her on her way out. At this point, it's probably better not to ask. She's about to leave as well when Sonny walks into the bodega.

 

"Yo, cuz, I think I'm sick."

 

Usnavi doesn't even look up from the counter.

 

"No you're not."

 

Sonny coughs − in Usnavi's defense, it sounds completely fake − and tries to pretend to touch his own forehead in worry, his eyes big and wide, trying to gain compassion.

 

"Please! I want you to be my nurse too."

 

"You're not sick, get your coffee and go to work."

 

"Oh, come on, you're taking care of everyone _en el barrio_ and not me?!"

 

Pete enters the bodega and Nina barely has the time to register the scene before her. Quick as a whip, Usnavi jumps to the other side of the counter and gets in front of Sonny like a human shield.

 

"Don't get near him, Sonny, you'll get sick!"

 

"I _am_ sick," Sonny pouts, to no avail.

 

Pete does look a little bit red-nosed and tired, truth be told, although at this point, with him and Sonny living together, protecting Sonny from him seems pointless.

 

"Alright, so I'm gonna go… " She says, getting out of this drama.

 

It seems that everyone (but Sonny) is catching this cold around. When Nina passes by the salon the next day to show off her child and visit her best friend who still works there part time, she's not even surprised to not find Vanessa there.

 

"Hey, ladies!"

 

Usually there is a flutter of hugs and kisses whenever she walks in, since she doesn't always find the time to visit the salon as often as she used to back when it was on her block, but today Dani and Carla keep their distances. She sees in Carla's eyes that she longs to dote on the baby, but is holding herself back.

 

"Sick?" Nina asks.

 

Daniela nods regretfully.

 

"Is Van…" She trails off when she sees who pushes the door of the salon open.

 

" _Buenos días_ ," Usnavi says cheerfully. "Where is my sunflower princess?"

 

"Went to see her mom today, she didn't tell you?" Daniela replies so earnestly that Nina spots a lie. Daniela always has a teasing to her when she's genuine.

 

"Uh huh…" He looks so crestfallen it's almost comical. Then he notices Claudia. "Oh, the baby's here!"

 

He picks Claudia up from her car seat without even asking, kissing her cheeks, and Nina's safe for now. Carla and Daniela are not.

 

"So, Carla, feeling better?" He asks, his eyes entirely on the baby,

 

"Oh yeah, thanks, these things worked so fast, I gave the rest to…"

 

Daniela nudges her hard in the ribs and Carla bites her lip hard to avoid shouting out and alert Usnavi.

 

" _To me_ ," Dani says, too fast, too suspicious. "She gave the rest to me. I'm feeling a little bit under the weather."

 

"Need VapoRub?" He asks, reaching for his pocket, but Daniela raises a hand to stop him and no one disobeys Daniela.

 

"If you take that thing out of your pocket, you're getting out of my salon."

 

Usnavi seems to weigh the pros and cons, and puts Claudia back down.

 

"Alright, I be seeing Vanessa then."

 

The second he's out the door, Daniela grabs her phone to text aggressively.

 

"Tell her to warn her mom," Carla offers over Daniela's shoulder. "So she can give an excuse. Like she sent her on an errand or something."

 

"Good thinking," Dani nods.

 

"Vanessa isn't really visiting her mom, is she?" Nina asks.

 

"She's sick at home," Carla replies. "She asked us to lie to Usnavi."

 

"Ask her if I can come over."

 

A few seconds, then Daniela's phone rings with an obnoxiously loud alarm.

 

"She says to be quiet and quick, because he _will_ be at her place before long no matter what lie we told."

 

On her way to Vanessa's, she gets a text that just asks her to " _ring twice when you're there so I know it's you_ " and Vanessa's pale face welcomes her with a worried glance both sides of the hall before harpooning her inside.

 

"Get the baby away from me," is her opening statement as soon as she sees the car seat.

 

"Well, nice to see you too."

 

"C'mon, you know." She gestures at herself. In pajamas that looked soaked through with sweat, she's covering herself with that old blanket Abuela crocheted for her ages ago, and she looks horrible. "I'm sick."

 

Her voice is all nasal and weird. Nina puts Claudia's seat down by the window. She's fallen asleep at some point during the way here. Vanessa invites her to the kitchen where a huge pot of tea is heating up on the stove, probably more liquid than one should ingest in one day, but she'll leave all nursing advice out of here. This is a safe space.

 

"So, you're hiding from your boyfriend?"

 

"Oh, don't give me that, you know him. You would do the same."

 

Nina laughs.

 

"I have, in fact. He's very persistent."

 

Vanessa serves her a cup of tea − chamomile, far too sweet, probably very good for the throat. She takes one herself and swallows it in one big gulp that looks mildly painful.

 

"Persistent? You're too kind with him, Nina. Last time I was sick he made me breakfast _and_ breakfast for lunch _and_ breakfast for dinner every day and watched me eat it like… You know, his eyes all…" She gestures vaguely. "You know?"

 

Nina can't help a smile. She absolutely knows these eyes, though never from personal experience. They're for Vanessa only, she's just been lucky enough to witness them.

 

Suddenly a knock at the door. Vanessa looks at her with panic and gestures to keep silent.

 

"Vanessa, I know you're in here!" Usnavi shouts. "Please let me in!"

 

Vanessa gestures to her mouth, begging Nina to keep hers zipped shut.

 

"I'll make you pancakes, I brought milk because you always run out, please, just let me in!"

 

His voice is desperate, but Nina has to pick a side in this, and she'll choose Vanessa every time. Her phone, however, is on the other side of this war. It rings in her purse, a sign of her betrayal.

 

" _I knew it!_ Nina, tell Vanessa to let me in!"

 

" _Do not let him in,_ " Vanessa whispers with anger. "He'll tire himself out and just leave."

 

"PLEASE!"

 

There's more banging, more shouting, with Vanessa still resolutely refusing to acknowledge Usnavi, and in the middle of it all, Claudia starts crying. Nina walks over to hold her close, quiet her down, though in this kind of atmosphere, it seems like a lost cause.

 

"I'm not letting you in!" Vanessa shouts, all pretense gone. "Go away!"

 

"But, blueberry muffin, I just want to help you get better!"

 

"I can't take any more Vicks! Or blankets! _One is just fine, Usnavi!_ "

 

Nina whispers gentle "Shh" to the baby, unwilling to get involved in either side of this argument all occurring through the door.

 

"I'll give you a back massage, you know you love those…"

 

Nina quirks her brows at Vanessa and is met with an ice cold glare.

 

"GO AWAY!"

 

"I'll let you pick the movie… No that's a bad one, you always pick anyways… I'll do the dishes for you! For three months!"

 

" _Dios mío,_ are you still bargaining? You're not coming inside!"

 

"But… Vanessa…"

 

So Usnavi does have a trick up his sleeve in the end. His moaning voice that Nina is sure is accompanied with puppy eyes that they can't see through the door. Vanessa's face softens and she almost looks like she's about to give in, until she takes a hold of herself and straightens back up.

 

"No. Baby, I love you, but you're _not_ coming in, I'm barely sick. Nina, you tell him."

 

"You're a little bit sick," Nina says hesitantly.

 

" _I'm not sick_ ," Vanessa retorts, then much louder to Usnavi. "I'M NOT SICK!"

 

There's a long pause, during which Nina gets her daughter to calm down. Easy thing with babies, you pop a boob into their mouth and suddenly the world is beautiful again. _Maybe she does act like her dad sometimes._ She smiles to herself, another thought to take to the grave.

 

"You're really not gonna let me in," he says defeated.

 

Vanessa sighs, but she's made up her mind long ago, it seems.

 

"No. Come back next week."

 

"Alright… Love you…"

 

"Love you," Vanessa replies, a mutter, as if she was embarrassed Nina could hear and Nina wishes she were a fly who could be present to hear these two idiots she loves so dearly tell each other all the sweet things they want to.

 

Nina waits till she hears Usnavi actually stepping away before giving Vanessa her nastiest smirk and tease her.

 

"So, you _loooooove_ him, huh? Things are moving pretty fast."

 

Vanessa looks away and serves herself another cup of tea.

 

"Shut up, we've been together for like seven years, we've dropped that bomb for a while now."

 

"I'm just saying, before you know it, you'll be married and knocked up and I will be the last one surprised."

 

"Married, huh…"

 

There's something in her tone that sounds like a secret that Nina should dig.

 

"Don't tell me he proposed…"

 

" _God_ , no. You know him, he hasn't even asked me if he could move in, he'll never dare propose."

 

"… And _you_ haven't proposed?"

 

Vanessa still won't look at her. She's always been like that, Van, can't ever look at Nina when she's trying to hold something from her, or she'll spill it.

 

"No…" She says, then a mutter that's half audible. "Not yet."

 

" _Oh my god_ , are you putting a ring on that finger?"

 

She huffs.

 

"I don't have money for that shit."

 

"But you want to…"

 

"Look," Vanessa cuts her, sitting in the sofa in front of her but taking her distances from the baby. "I'll probably end up proposing in some lame way like after sex or something, and we'll have to make up an engagement story anyways."

 

"Alright," Nina says. "I'll be on the look-out for that."

 

Usnavi only sends them three text messages the time Nina is there, which they consider progress. When she leaves, there is a gallon of milk and a pile of blankets in front of the door.

 

Fate has its weird ways to get back at you. One morning, Nina passes by the bodega to find Jane behind the counter and not her nephew. Sonny's mom hasn't had a shift at the bodega for years and Nina is surprised to see her, to say the least.

 

"Usnavi's sick," Jane tells her, as if she'd said that to everyone that walked into the bodega so far today. "He's resting at home."

 

And so it is fate that brings Nina by Usnavi's bedside and finds the spot already taken. Sonny is wiping Usnavi's forehead with as much love as such a gesture can contain.

 

"How are you doing?" Nina asks.

 

"I'm… sick…" Usnavi says feebly, his face pale and he exudes heat even from a distance.

 

She decides to spend the day with him, her friend, her brother. She's there to witness Benny visit too (after she texted him to come over) to cheer him up and tell Usnavi jokes that are only a little bit funny so Usnavi doesn't hurt his throat laughing too much. Carla brings extra blankets she knitted herself, she says, and enough food to last him ten days, which makes Nina's mom's meals redundant but Usnavi has all the space they need in the freezer. Daniela says she cannot handle sick people and sends a postcard through Vanessa, which is better than nothing in everyone's opinion. Vanessa looks at him like he's the most precious sick little boy in the world and makes him tea.

 

 

It's almost a week till Usnavi is back on his feet. Personally nursing every person on the block was so taxing to him that the illness caught up to him, but if it means every single person also comes by to see him back to health, then he must have been doing something good. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, if you read this and enjoyed it, please consider leaving a comment to tell me what you liked :) It really means the world to get feedback. You don't need an AO3 account to leave kudos or post a comment.


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